FHOB.com: Ferret Hob
A sable ferret, the most common color variation Male intact ferrets are
called hobs; female intact ferrets are jills. A spayed female is a sprite, and a
neutered male is a gib. Ferrets under one year old are known as kits. Ferrets
come in a variety of coat colors and patterns.
In general use, a ferret is a domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo).
Several other small, elongated carnivorous mammals belonging to the family
Mustelidae (weasels) also have the word "ferret" in their common names,
including the endangered black-footed ferret. The ferret is a very close
relative of the polecat, but it is as yet unclear whether it is a domesticated
form of the European polecat, the Steppe polecat, or some hybrid of the two.
The history of the ferret's domestication is uncertain, like that of most other
domestic animals. It is very likely that ferrets have been domesticated for at
least 2500 years, but it is not certain for what purpose the ferret was
originally domesticated. It is known though that the Romans used ferrets for
hunting rabbits. They are still used for that purpose in some parts of the world
today, but increasingly they are being kept simply as pets.
Being so closely related to polecats, ferrets are quite easily able to hybridize
with them, and this has occasionally resulted in feral colonies of ferret
polecat hybrids that have been perceived to have caused damage to native fauna,
perhaps most notably in New Zealand. As a result, some parts of the world have
imposed restrictions on the keeping of ferrets.
History
The ferret was most likely domesticated from the European polecat (Mustela
putorius), though it is also possible that ferrets are descendants of the Steppe
polecat (Mustela eversmannii), or some hybridization thereof. Analysis of
mitochondrial DNA suggests that ferrets were domesticated around 2500 years ago,
although what appear to be ferret remains have been dated to 1500 BC. It has
been claimed that the ancient Egyptians were the first to domesticate ferrets,
but as no mummified remains of a ferret have yet been found, or any hieroglyph
of a ferret, that idea seems unlikely.
The ancient Greeks seem to have been familiar with ferrets. Ferrets, or at least
ferret-like animals, are mentioned in a play written by Aristophanes, The
Acharnians, in 425 BC. Whether this was actually a reference to ferrets or to
polecats is uncertain, as the Greek word ictis is translated by some authorities
as ferret and by others as polecat.
Colonies of feral ferrets have established themselves in areas where there is no
competition from similarly sized predators, such as in the Shetland Islands.
Where ferrets coexist with polecats, hybridization is common. It has been
claimed that New Zealand has the world's largest feral population of
ferret-polecat hybrids.
The 1st Battalion of the British Armed Forces, the Yorkshire Regiment, keeps two
ferrets, Imphal and Quebec, as its unofficial mascots, named after the
battalion's battle honors.
